Today's Headlines and Commentary

It's all depressing today, I'm afraid. Lots of trouble brewing on the Afghanistan front, for starters. The New York Times reports that President Karzai called for U.S. troops to be confined to their bases and for American forces to "complete the security transition process by 2013 instead of 2014." Here are the Los Angeles Times and CNN on Karzai's demands and the Taliban's suspension of peace talks. And the Times just reported that Karzai said he was at "the end of the rope"--a rope that, let's face it, was never all that long. More details have emerged about the rogue soldier responsible for the recent massacre: he was allegedly drinking and suffering from marital stress, reports the Times. The AP tells us that he "saw his friend's leg blown off" the day before the massacre. And CNN has more speculation on his mental condition. And guess what? CNN reports that "a law enforcement advisory by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned. . . [that the] alleged murder of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier could spur retaliatory violence in the United States." From the Department of More Bad News from Afghanistan, the Times says that women are being subject to invasive body-cavity searches by Afghan officials at Pul-e-Charki prison in Kabul. Men get merely patted down, while the treatment of women has so troubled U.S.--and some Afghan--officials that the U.S. has threatened to cut off all funding for the facility, in which it has made a major financial investment. In other news, the Hill informs us that Senator Chuck Grassley "dismissed a recent speech on [targeting U.S. citizens abroad] from Attorney General Eric Holder as the 'CliffsNotes' version, and said the administration needs to spell out the legal rationale for the killings." Remember how North Korea agreed to halt its nuclear program in exchange for food aid? To everyone who entertained even a brief thought that Kim Jong Un might actually mean what his government said, consider this latest story from CNN, which says that N. Korea plans to launch a ballistic missile into space. Meanwhile, Bradley Manning's lawyer is trying to get all 22 of his client's charges dismissed, according to CNN. And just a reminder that Muammar Gadhafi wasn't the only nutcase in his family. Hannibal Gadhafi--yes, that is his name--and his obsession with sharks, inspired today's Moment of Zen. For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter, visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law’s Security Law Brief, Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief, and Fordham Law’s Cyber Brief. Email us noteworthy articles we may have missed at wakeman.lawfare@gmail.com and  singh.lawfare@gmail.com.